While we are waiting for Congress to reform the outdated Toxic Substances Control Act (if you haven't urged your representative to do so already, take 30 seconds to do so here) to ensure that heavy metals like mercury and lead, phthalates and VOC's, and other bioaccumulative toxins are limited or eliminated in common consumer products, consider taking action in your own home now.

The five following ideas are the very simplest, easiest, and least expensive ways to improve your health environment, and that of your kids', whose smaller, developing bodies are much less able to handle toxins. 

Open the Window: Since we spend about 90% of our time indoors, the very simplest way to improve the air we breathe is by improving indoor air quality. Our homes are a leading source of air pollutants, so the simple act of opening a window (or giving the house a good airing by opening all the doors and windows for a few minutes) means that the air we breathe most of the time is significantly healthier, even if you think outdoor air isn't great in your area (it's still better than indoor, surprisingly enough). 

Clean with Nontoxic Products: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) can be found in the air of homes that utilize conventional cleaning products at levels fifty times higher than what's considered 'safe' by the EPA. That means every time you spray, scrub or 'clean' the house, you are actually significantly lowering the air quality there. Using nontoxic products like those made by Seventh Generation, Method, or making your own, is a safer (and in the latter case, cheaper) way to go. 

Don't Cook or Reheat in Plastic Containers: It's tough enough to keep track of what kind of water bottle is best to use (here are some of our recommendations and considerations), but what about all the other plastic in your life? Certain plastics should NEVER be put in the microwave, as they are known to leach pretty hazardous chemicals into the food as it heats. But what about other plastics? And what if you aren't heating food, but it ends up sitting in the sun and getting warm? What about putting hot food into a plastic container, even if it's not heated in it? Dishwashers and plain old use can break down plastics too. To avoid having to memorize numbers (FYI avoid plastics 3,6 &7 which are known leachers) and make life simple, switch to only heating foods in glass or stainless steel containers, which are guaranteed not to leach anything. 

Get a Water Filter: If you don't know about the water quality in your town or city, you can check to find out what's in it (and what's not) at the EPA's Safewater site, There are three main ways to filter water: look for a whole-house filter, which will be attached to your main water line in the basement and remove toxins from all the water that flows into your home; an undersink filter, which will remove impurities only from your kitchen sink, and a pitcher filter like those by Mavea (the company recycles their cartridges, unlike other brands). And keep that water in stainless steel or glass-lined containers to keep it clean before you drink it. 

Take Shoes off at the Door: If people regularly walk around the house with shoes on, they are bringing whatever is used on the streets outside, from pesticides to chemical de-icers, to bad bacteria, into all areas of your home, to be possibly ingested, breathed in, and tracked into beds and onto couches, where we spend hours of our life. As Laura Dern writes at Healthy Child, Healthy Home "According to a report called the Door Mat study, lead-contaminated soil from outside causes almost all the lead dust inside homes. It notes that wiping them on a mat or removing shoes can cut lead dust by 60 percent.

---

---

Here is an interesting fact; according to Nielsen Research approximately 598 million pounds of candy are bought in the US during the Halloween season. Now that's a lot of candy! Greenopia, in its mission to educate consumers, has recently updated their "Greenest Candy Maker Ratings" just in the nick of time! Because if you're like me, one of the purchasers of all that candy, you can easily get spooked when trying to make the "greener" choice this Halloween! For chocolate lovers,Theo Chocolate and Endangered Species Chocolate lead the pack in earning 4 out of 4 leafs. This year Endangered Species Chocolate is offeringbite-sized, individually wrapped, all-natural chocolate treats available in bulk-perfect for Halloween distribution. YummyEarth, a Greenopia 3 leafer, is offering Organic Lollipops and Organic Gummy Bears for Halloween. They are sold in family size bags that are very popular and selling out fast! Cadbury, (the only major candy company to earn any leafs) earned 2 -up from last year. Their score increased due to their committed effort to environmental sourcing of 50% of their chocolate. "We were surprised about the lack of environmental progress and transparency by some of the top brands," said Doug Mazeffa, Greenopia's Research Director, "The major brand who stood out in a positive way was Cadbury." Alas, while the other big brand candy companies like Mars, Nestle and Hershey's have made improvements, they have not made the same commitment to sourcing as Cadbury and ultimately just fell short of achieving a one-leaf score in Greenopia's Rating. So this year, when facing the dangers of buying candy for Halloween, keep some of Greenopia's Picks in your goody bag. Greenopia's Candy Picks: CHOCOLATE HALLOWEEN TREATS - Endangered Species Chocolate - All natural chocolate treats, available in bulk (144ct) and in a variety of flavors, gluten-free and kosher. BUG BITES- Endangered Species Chocolate-Each chocolate square contains a fun and educational insect trading card. ORGANIC GUMMY BEARS - YummyEarth - Less than 90 calories and a full 100% Vitamin C per .9oz snack pack. Comes in Pomegranate Pucker, Sour Apple Tart, and Strawberry Smash. ORGANIC HALLOWEEN LOLIPOPS - YummyEarth - 60 pops to a variety bag. Flavors include: Pomegranate Pucker, Too Berry Blueberry, Mango Tango, Strawberry Smash, Googly Grape, Very Very Cherry, Sour Apple Tart, Wet Face Watermelon

Read More »

As the summer fades our thoughts turn to back to school shopping. New clothes, shoes and backpacks, become the focus. Greenopia has some great choices on where to shop for greening your fall wardrobe and your back to school needs. The 4 Leafer- Patagonia, is a Greenopia top pick! In addition to shoes, clothes and outerwear for men, woman and children, they have a great new line of Day Packs that are just right for lugging schoolbooks or a laptop around. The Refugio, Atacama and Chacabuco Packs are ergonomically designed and come in super color combinations. Something you might not know is that in addition to performing the many tasks required to run a successful outdoor clothing company, Patagonia employees are helping to create a new national park. Employees have traveled in groups of six to Chilean Patagonia - the company's namesake - to spend three weeks digging out fence posts, rolling up wire and removing nonnative plants. Each day pack in the new line is named after and inspired by the national park Patagonia is working to create.

Read More »